A Noble Cause
by Fonkirby
Summary: Just an addition/change in the prologue for a human noblewomen and the romance option with Iona. Rated M for much the same reasons as the game but with more lemon.
1. Chapter 1

A Noble Cause

I am Lady Elissa Cousland, daughter of Teyrn Bryce Cousland and Teyrna Elanor Cousland, and younger sister to Sir Fergus Cousland.

I will try to keep this brief. A large horde of Darkspawn is marching towards the castle from the south, our allied noble-family the Howe's army has been delayed and I am to inform my brother that he is to leave at once. Before I could do that however, Sir Gilmore came to me and informed me that my beloved Mabari War Hound had gotten into the Larder once again, and as he only listens to me, I was to go fetch him out of there.

As luck would have it, he was not misbehaving but rather had sniffed out a large quantity of giant rats, nasty buggers those things. After finishing that and listening for the unknownth time a story nan would always tell me, I then came across my mother talking with Lady Landra, with her was her son Dairren and Lady-in-waiting Iona, she was remarkably beautiful. When the two decided to head to the study, I made sure to follow suit, my brother could afford to spend a little more time with his family before I gave him father's orders.

As I entered the study, the elven lady-in-waiting was standing in a corner, I approached her to speak. She spoke kindly of my dog first before looking me in the eye, he acknowledged the compliment with a hearty bark.

"Greetings again, my Lady." She said with her soft and beautiful voice. The fact that she was an elven Lady-in-waiting surprised me.

"I haven't seen many elvish ladies-in-waiting." I said, hoping she would give some insight into this matter.

"Lady Landra has been good to me, I am lucky." She responded, then asked hesitantly, "If I may...I noticed you have no ladies-in-waiting. Is this usual for a noblewomen of your rank?"

Servants, she asked me why I do not have servants, that should be obvious, "I don't like others serving me."

"That is not a sentiment I see among other noblewomen." She said. "They are just too lazy to do things themselves. There is often no need for servants and I for one shall never own one." I said proudly, though I was still curious to know more about her, "How did you come to know Lady Landra?"

"My family has been in service to hers for many years." She began, "Lady Landra elevated my place as a reward for our loyalty, I hope this position might pass to my daughter."

"You have a daughter?!" I said a little louder and shocked then necessary.

"Forgive me; I shouldn't have mentioned her." She said sadly.

"No, that's alright, please tell me about her." I said.

"Her...name is Amethyne. Her father died of a wasting sickness two years ago." Bringing up the girl's father caused her to look down, to hide her sadness.

It was clear she did not wish to speak of these times as it hurt too much, so I quickly changed the subject. The more she spoke, the more I found myself longing to know her...better, my mind was ablaze with thoughts of her beauty until I could not hold my tongue, "You are very beautiful, If I might say so."

Her head shot up and a blush formed across her soft pale cheeks, "My Lady is very kind. Thank you." That had done it, I had to know more of her, to touch her, to smell her, and to taste her...to, be with her. She and her daughter would be servants no longer! I would see to that.

Slightly nervous, I made my intentions known, "I think we should get to know each other better." It was a rather poor line but at least it got the ball rolling.

"Aren't we doing just that? What else did you have in mind?" She asked cautiously.

It was now or never, I took a breath, then spoke so Dairren would not hear, "Something more...intimate, later on in my room." I waited for her to scream out, or at least refuse...but she did neither.

Her face flushed greatly, "I...I think I might like that." Praise the Maker she agreed! She stepped forward, closing the distance between us, I had hoped she would take hold of my wrists but she did not, "If I come to your door once everyone is asleep...would that be agreeable, my lady?"

I smiled then took hold of her wrists gently, "Please, call me Elissa." She uttered a small moan that made my heart melt, "Until tonight, then." She said, then checked to see if Dairren was looking, seeing that he had his nose firmly planted in a book, she gave my cheek a quick chaste kiss. I let her go and rubbed the spot with a smile. The night could not come soon enough.

I had almost forgotten my father's request as I left the study, I hurried up to his room where he was saying his goodbyes to his family. As I instructed him in my father's orders, he readied to leave when my mother and father came in to see him off. My father suggested we all turn in early as the following day would be long and hard. I cried internally for joy as our meeting would happen sooner.

As the eve came, I had already changed into my nightgown and informed my faithful hound that I was expecting lady Iona and that he was to sleep in the corner and not peek at us. A soft woof confirmed he understood and shortly there after a knock came at my door. I opened it to find her waiting in the same outfit from earlier and I wasted no time in pulling her in and locking the door.

Our lips met swiftly as I wrapped my arms around her tightly pressing her to me, eliciting a moan from her as she hesitantly placed her own arms around me. As we kissed her tongue proved to be more bold as she ran it across my lips begging for entry, something I was eager to allow. She moved her tongue all around the inside of my mouth, brushing against my cheeks, sliding along my teeth, and hugging tightly my own tongue. Soon after it was my turn to explore, though we were forced to part for air.

With a fresh supply of oxygen in our systems, I dove back to resume our kiss of pure passion. I allowed her tongue to guide mine into her own mouth, where ever she moved her tongue mine followed, never breaking contact. She tasted so sweet, unlike anything I had ever known. Pulling away again, I spoke, "M...My Lady Iona, I am so glad you came, ever since I met you this morning, I knew this is how we should end up." This made her blush only grow larger, "Please, you mustn't use such titles on me, I am nobody special."

"Oh but you are!" I said, "You are currently one of the most special people I know, that is why I have asked you here, and why I need you to stay." We drew to the bed and sat down, still embraced in each other's arms.

"Stay?" She asked curiously. I nodded, "You mentioned not having many suitors lined up for you earlier, but yet, right here now is one who would do anything to have your hand."

Her eyes began to shed tears, "B-but, I am just a mere servant of Lady Landra, my family has never been more then that."

I held her closer, laid her head upon my neck, "None of that matters, besides, if we were to wed, you and your family would rise to the rank of nobles just like that. Just imagine what that would do for your people, elvish nobles. True, some would hate it, but most would be unable to do anything about it anyway. Please, Iona, for your people, your family, and for me...won't you accept my hand in marriage?"

She could only hug tighter as she began to sob lightly, "T-that...you w-would do such a thing for me...I...cannot...thank you enough." She eased herself away from me to look into my eyes, attempting to see if my words were not just feeble lies. Satisfied that i spoke the truth, her eyes could only shed still more tears, "Oh...Elissa...I...Yes, I would love to be your bride."

I spun her around in an instant and threw her to the bed, taking her pants and panties along with her. I then tore off my own panties. "W-what are you doing?" She asked slightly shocked but her fear faded instantly when our womanhoods connected.

"Right now," I began, "with the maker as our witness, we are going to bind ourselves together. With this act, I swear to love you and be with you always. We will hold a more official wedding on a later date, but for now that is unimportant." With that I ground my hips against her hard causing the elf to moan my name. Soon I could feel her hips grind with mine, I picked her up and looked deep into her eyes as we road each other, slowly gaining speed. As we continued our ritual, a feeling began to well up within us, it made its way to our groins and threatened to burst forth from us. She looked at me with questioning eyes, to which I nodded, silently answering her question. As our bodies and minds were sent over the edge our lips met once more and stifled our cries of passion.

We collapsed to the bed panting and covered in sweat but full of love. Iona was still worried about the following morning, "Elissa...how will we make this work tomorrow? I am still Lady Landra's lady-in-waiting."

"I will speak with her tomorrow morning and tell her of my intentions, I do not think there will be any problem. My family is very respected and second only to the king, if I want your hand in marriage, Lady Landra can do nothing about it."

"I love you, Lady Elissa." Iona said softly.

"As do I love you Lady Iona." I hugged her tightly as we drifted off to sleep, our spirits joining the fade for a night of fun.

A/N: I have only played this game for two hours the other day and already I'm writing a fic on it ^.~ For those of you that did this with Iona in game, have no fear, for what happened to her in game is the reason I am writing this, changes must be made!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry for the delay, life was throwing stuff at me left and right. Anyway, let's get this show on the road.

A Noble Cause

"Sir, the men are in position, we await your orders." A soldier said to their general. As stated several hundred soldiers and archers stood upon the large hill. Placed at each end of the back line was a catapult loaded with a fiery bolder. Everything had been planned out for months now, and today was the perfect day to strike, after all, most of the Cousland army had gone to meet the king in preparation for a battle that was never to happen.

"Excellent." The general said proudly, he raised his left arm to signal the artillery, "Today, the Cousland family shall fall, soon all will know the power of Arl Howe!" With that he thrust his arm down and pointed towards the castle. Two flaming boulders were sent crashing through the castle walls as the rest of the army charged forth to slaughter everyone.

As the attack was reaching the third floor, a Mabari War Hound had abandoned his corner in favor of attempting to wake his master.

"Ug, Adonis! What's the matter?" Elissa said irritably.

Iona was far more worried, "Do you think something is wrong? I thought I heard voices earlier."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, probably just Nan berating the servants again." The hound, Adonis, would hear none of it. Something was wrong, he could sense it, and it was his duty to warn Elissa.

Iona got out of bed, "I don't know, he sounds very worried, I'm going to check the hall." As she made her way to the door Elissa got out in an attempt to change her mind, she rather missed the warmth of the elf next to her.

"Iona please, just come back to be-" She was cut off as their door was kicked in, the force sending it from its hinges. The small elf had just reached for the handle and was sent staggering backwards trying to regain her balance. She was unable to do so however, as an arrow lodged itself within her shoulder. The combination of her lack of footing and the force of the arrow hit sent her flying to the ground.

Eyes wide with shock for but a split second, Elissa reached for her trunk, and grabbed the dagger she would always leave atop it just in case. As Adonis charged the soldier responsible for ruining his master's door, Elissa moved swiftly to stab him in the back. With teeth in his leg, the man was forced to drop his gaze to the hound, losing any chance he had at staying alive. Elissa, with the dagger firmly held in her right hand, sent her arm out as hard as she could against the soldier's back.

The blade managed to dig into a space in the armor where a leather strap was all that stood between it and flesh. Having the dagger as far in as she could stab it, she looked to the archer with a fire in her eyes burning hotter then the greatest Dwarven forges. The archer sent an arrow flying, but the Cousland was too full of rage to be deterred. She used the dagger deep in the now dying soldier as leverage and pushed off (leaving the weapon behind) towards the archer letting out an inhuman screech of rage.

Elissa caught the arrow mid flight, twirled it around and attempted to jam the object within the archer's eye. He had little time to react and it cost him dearly, the arrow connected with the flesh of his cheek just under Elissa's target. While the arrow head dug slightly into the flesh, the wood was far too thin and thus, too delicate to be used in such a manner. It splintered into a series of tiny wooden picks and part of what the enraged women held continued it's decent onto the man's skin, causing a minor scratch and a few fragments of wood to lodge into the softness of his flesh. While it did not kill the man instantly like Elissa planned, it did force him to stumble slightly.

What little time she had gained from the act was all that was required as a second arrow soon crashed through his head finishing him off.

"Elissa!!" A women came running towards her, securing her bow as she went, "Thank the Maker you are safe! Oh but, you are not even dressed, are you alright my darling?"

It took a second for Elissa to register her mother's voice and question, what rage and shock flowing through her. Upon regaining composure she looked to her mother with worry spelled out plain as day upon her face, she then ran quickly back to her room as the first set of tears escaped their prison.

Eleanor wasted no time in following her daughter in the hopes she might learn what else caused her such distress. Entering the room she saw Elissa kneeling beside someone. "Darling, what's wrong?" She asked urgently.

Her mother's words were ignored as she looked into Iona's eyes, "Iona..." She whispered trying to hold back her sobs. The arrow was in deep, but she remembered something about her brief training in archery, this was not a fatal wound, but that the arrow would have to be removed in order to avoid infection.

"Iona?" Came Eleanor's confused voice, "What is she doing here?" She knelt down beside her daughter to see the elf was just as exposed as Elissa, this brought her face into a furrow, "Elissa," She said firmly, "What in the Maker's name were you doing last night?" She had indeed suspected something of her daughter, what with the way she treated possible suitors, but she never expected any of it to be true. She could only imagine the damage it would do to their credibility of status if her own daughter was...

"Mother please!" Elissa said through gritted teeth, "We are under attack and you want to bring my orientation into question NOW?"

"I am merely concerned about the well being of our nobility-"

"King Cailan doesn't give a shit about such things!" Elissa roared, "He trusts us, he cares about us, he and my father are great friends! He already shows much kindness towards elves, and I daresay he would be just fine if a member of the family second in power only to him was a lesbian! Now please, Iona needs help, if we do not remove this arrow, she could die!"

Her mother sighed defeated, it was true. "Elissa, honey I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking properly and I apologi-"

Elissa interrupted her, "Just get something to bandage her arm, please. More of those men could be here soon."

Eleanor nodded and quickly went to a nearby cabinet to fetch some linen bandages, returning shortly thereafter, "Here, I don't think we have time for much else."

It was Elissa's turn to nod; she looked down at her lover, it seemed the shock had faded and the elf smiled up at her.

"M-my lady...are you, alright?" Iona asked in the softest of whispers.

"I am, and you will be too, once I remove this." Elissa took hold of the arrow's shaft and placed her left hand on Iona's arm both to comfort her and keep her steady, "Be strong my love, this is going to hurt, are you ready?"

Iona nodded slightly and closed her eyes to brace herself. With a powerful tug the arrow ripped through the fleshy barrier around it. The elf whimpered in pain but kept herself mostly quiet, gritting her teeth as tears streaked down. With the arrow removed, Elissa quickly tossed it aside and lifted the girl up to allow her mother to begin wrapping up the now larger wound. Iona was lucky, she bled little when the metal was removed and the wound covered.

With the bandage in place Eleanor fetched Iona's dress from the floor, she tried not to think about what happened unbeknownst to her that night. With great effort, Iona was again standing and dressed, she leaned on Eleanor for support as Elissa donned her armor and readied her weapons.

"Adonis, come here." Elissa called. The dog happily obeyed the command, "Can you support Iona? There will be fighting ahead and my mother and I need to be able to do that- You can still fight right mother?"

"I may be old, but I can still do a thing or two with this bow, do not worry my dear."

Adonis woofed a happy yes, and Iona was placed upon the dog. "OK, let's get out of here." Elissa said.

"Wait, what about your father, have you seen him yet?" Eleanor asked.

"No, but he might be down in the larder, there's a secret escape passage in there right?"

"But of course, let's check on Oriana and little Oren first though, oh I do hope they are all right."

Eleanor's hopes would be in vein however as the two men that attacked Elissa and Iona first went to their room, the two bodies lay together tragically. They left the room and closed the door quietly, she vowed these men would pay.

"Lady Landra!" Iona said sadly as they discovered she too had been killed. "No...Lady Landra...w-what are we to do now?"

Elissa give Iona a soft embrace, "Shh, everything will be OK." She looked to the body of Landra, "I will take care of her, I promise you. Your Lady-In-Waiting has found a suitor that will cherish her dearly."

The trip to the larder was difficult, as they found out, the attack was from Arl Howe's forces, it was all a set up, his troops were never delayed, they were never going to Ostagar. On their way, the family sword and shield were taken from the armory to insure Howe would never get his filthy hands upon them.

Sir Gilmore and what remained of the Cousland force had barricaded the main door, he had told the others to go with out him, and that he would fight to give them time. It was noble of him to do so and they would never forget it.

After dealing with a few more soldiers the larder in sight, they were close to freedom. As Elissa suggested, her father was indeed waiting there for them, however he was in bad shape.

"Eleanor! Elissa! You're all right, Maker be praised." Upon finishing this sentence he coughed a few times much to his wife's horror.

"Bryce! Are you OK?" Eleanor said running to his side.

"I'm afraid not my dear. They got me good." He forced a smile.

Elissa shook her head, "You're coming with us."

He only shook his head, "I won't survive the standing. Go, get away from here, warn your brother of Howe's treachery. He must pay for his crimes."

"I'm afraid he is right." Came a deep voice, it belonged to Duncan, the Gray Warden Elissa met earlier. "We must flee the castle, but sir..." He looked to Bryce, "I came here to find a recruit for the Gray Wardens, and I cannot leave empty handed."

Bryce looked to Elissa, "You mean to take her don't you?"

"She has proven herself a strong warrior, the Wardens could very much use her strength in the coming battle at Ostagar."

"Very well, just get her out of here." Bryce said at last.

Eleanor looked at her husband one last time before making a decision, "Good luck my dear, make sure Howe pays for this."

Elissa was shocked, "What!? You're not coming?"

She shook her head, "My place is here with your father. We will buy you time, I love you darling, I always have."

"Mother..." Tears began to surface in Elissa's eyes, but Duncan could not waist any more time.

"We must move, before they get here."

Elissa nodded, and gave her mother one final hug before she, Adonis, and Iona fled the castle to Ostagar.

A/N: OK, Iona is safe. I will be making a few other changes to the story as well, and let's just say, Loghain isn't going to be a prick this time...you'll see.


End file.
